Nut cracking machine



y 0. H. FRANKLIN 2,000,749

NUT CRACKING MACHINE Filed March 27, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l %INVENTOR ATTORNEY y 1935- y o, H. FRANKLIN 2,000,749

NUT CRACKING MACHINE Filed March 27, 19:55 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 E; 3 {Q t: i

QHEan/c/in to INVENTO Q: m m 9 Q a m m Patented May 7, 1935 J This hmenti'omreiates'tczmachme' stat Quick-,- cams, whes'e mctibnflis -tq open'the cracking; n nuisnremmtory'tothmmmpval ufithexsh chamber 61m I q'cmked'nu't. F

if I and: tthaspertdeularreiereneejta a, macbinemt 'Figure 4 is an em; a! ien msectinn taken the character .Wnteiior, comm iflm'm transverselythanghgthe mihfile ot'the draeking fnfimxts inxquantities fiotivariausmes. H *1 :v T-Ehe; principal abieet; of the imtentio'znis to -Fig'ure i-is detail viewotthecarnag' e oper- Dmwide: 18; mt raakimqmaahiriexm tn M0 p e d vespecially. defii nedi for the ;shell int-means; f 1 I pecans or nuts of asimilar shape, .mflAhalm be' T ll'igurei M1 Y m ing 'cham- I used iammemnst etherkinds oi nnts.:5;'Ihe.zeIeon l e 6-? of F smie taut It" mentfiiprimefinwtmnceinthermachmesia timu -T "viewifultherishows means byv whicksfthe measur Telemmtgaqjusb" ing the mechank mmywhichthe cracking'cham V th m hcs: automatimllstptthew 'rismpenedjto'disehngea cracked mm. L I 7 its or length therefmzit 01' fllemfawingsivreflrence is: primarily made w 5' a nut ofpany size to escape the mtiqngtfi these Figurel which shows the housing,'. which; in" elements and allare the samce deef the end cast-' 23mm 0t creaking pnessure. x thawing "side mum's Armfihen obiectei'the inye nfimjs-tm therein as m define a: slot" 61v 1 a nnvel and simple camage, intwhich is punposmot which; will be later the eragkingehamber and designedg m "setimth. "neiendisctinnsi'lim cast to r gate in timed, I'QlflfiQhr'bQ a: novek mncmfi aae'ztnceda be: members; :1- m; enable the:

mm; which; latter;v is, gesignedtqmeonveyi nuts. chirusfiu Ms'eeunhriutmed in a other intqtbeqciacking chamber totsbemsubiectedta the estimat the pressurex elements-.5 ,snspendadzrbx'l mmsotpinsbr mllersllmr 5;.

.Sfiil. another object-gt the inventinmis reciprocating movements-. iz'r; the-humming; 1311a wide meansforme'vmgthe camiagerin-gthespmcyy carriage; Igthe pinslr imthm said sl'dts' ass-of cracking a. nut, eombined withrnmans; mjand-t'slidinatz m therein.- The-1 end oneevqf -the 'BIQSBHI;81B walhset theeau m 5am anfltmett tomeee'me. V meats er; plungers fer brinsing about. the-actual? a 1mm rmipmcating pIun- I qperaition, the letter means heiam epenfa sank Agpa'irf s andjs are; I artedm time i relation to carriage; dispasenktransvemely carriage-5 and; means ami zeleasable whengsumcient 'Plessueja;

I I I spaced apart to define an' intermediatm'esea; Q bm whtz qtb m he ttmcmkmeshelr,

gage. ithfi-rmm chamber ILL Ref: enencmto chamber: wflhrbezmadeuht detail the siqtionflyplmmen' onpnes I sure i, wtfiim.thescnnfines-at the czarf 313:1 m commion. lit. is; I shown ,One'end sdf .ath'e spying Hi; nexmalhg; "rests yagainstwtmt black 1r I and the-Luther :emiLmtsL-azaflxst 2i. lateral pifn 1:2" or other mitahla: device mixed ta? the plum-1 I $81115. ..'-l'hus,.:-u thevmmazei 5 'isamavteit remr- I wamdm, the: spring fl; 1mm such; ,movement- 4 I I I I I I I I and returns the carriage to normal position..- I parts-which wilitbeeome. manife tzasths lt betweengthe' firm n w fidsn takenhin n qm-w fi he. ace; well aiith'ez'mm snacerrhloek' smnmaslat comxpanying, drawings,,whe12eim. ezakpin aton ifl emrieikby them n i nti n heme: visiqnet a cracking machine ,designeqk flit use; and. having but. few part5, 31L of which; are aeeessihle 01; Itepheement; 9 M .9: ee ha h pe tsasmelk as' 'the fimmeof the-machine are designed tmbe readily, and quickly dismgunted eqnallgas; quickl'yg,assegmbhed w .1

With the foregoingebjeets as paasgmennt the invention has. particulaa: reference te its salimt features at eenstruetion: ma eement pt;

F u 1. is a n t n u iswn s embodying; the invention; with/portions; bmkem I t ingfoi'eeqotmatincmechanismtfcrthiszplun I 7 t Figure? a en s; "of the;

and locking mechanism.

inazplunzenmflatmnm the-nmngento nnrmalimy, 7

pesitien after Va-mucking, operation The mow sezrwkibedesmmuenum chamhet andiitsjs'udated 5 is intended that one of the plates l5 mo e outwardly to receive the nut l8 whilethe carriage 5 is motionless at one extreme position and that the companion plate l5 shall move outwardly in the opposite direction, as ShOWIlgbYQdOttEd' lines in Figure 4 subsequent to the cracking operation and during return movement 'of. the

carriage 5, to deposit the cracked nut through the opening IS in the base of the machine and into a suitable receptaclethe'rebelow, Inot shovm.

The plates l5 are held normally in clamped po sition on the nut by means of a torsion spring 20, surroundingithe shaft, and whose ends are secured inythe'upwardly extending ,projecendsin order that the meat .will' notflbedamtions 2| on each ofthe plates l5.

ltlwill be observed that thelower ends of the plates are bent longitudinally to define anelongated chamber which isflindicated by; the reference character In, generally indicating the cracking chamber. A chute 22 enters an aperture 23 in the wallet thecarriagei and terminates below the chamber. ||1.;-

Since the chute 22 must be stationarywith respect to'the carriage 5;;provisionsin the form' of a recess.2,4 must be; made in one of the side plates 2 of themachine. housing to'allow this chute to move to and fro as the carriage. 5 is reciprocated. i i

The chute 22 is inclined to enable thenuts 18 to be elevated and deposited into. the cracking chamber l0, rather than :allowing them to fall' therein by gravity since in rolling them, they may be more uniformly'fed into'v the chamber;

it being understood that inthe case of pecans, it is preferred and evennecessary that theybe cracked by bringing pressure to bear on their aged in cracking the shell; V

claims of thepresentfinvention are-'directedto the actual elements shown' andthat the feeding mechanism. per'se, maybe 'ofany suitable. de-

sign, if properly timed'ftoifunction :in accordance with the movements: of the carriage-"5gas described. w

Accordingly, a. follower block 25. 'is disposed for sliding movement in the -chute 22 and has pivoted thereto at 26 a link 21. It is apparent that. by advancingthelink 2'1 v by'means' ofa cam, eccentric or the likeathe 'block 25-will be moved up .the inclined-chute 22to the dotted position shown in Figure l, thereby'rolling the nut l8 into the trough defined by thelower edge 28 of the plate l5 and the curved lip 29 riage 5reciproca't'es while the rod 30 ,is limited to endwise movement. Hence the upper 'end of the plate I 5 is curved at 30b to receive'the end of the "rod 30 whenthe carriage returns to charging position. "At this I moment the rod 30" right in Figur'e 4to admit the' Figure 7. A cam 3| is afiixed on one of the side 'walls 2 of the machine housing and is adapted .to effect endwise movement of a bar 32.

This cam 3| is shown in detail in Figure 3. In this figure it will be noted that the cam has a slope '33 on which the free end of the bar 32 normally rests and as the carriage 5 is advanced against the resistance of the compression spring I I, the arm 32 rides upon the body of the cam until the recess 34 is reached and by the impelling force ofthe leaf spring 35, the arm 32 is'dropped into alignment with the groove 36 in the side of the cam3| and asthe carriage 5 is returned to normal position by the action of the spring |,v the arm follows the contour of the groove 36, causing-the arm 32 to move inwardly, thus pushing against the upwardly projecting portion 3! of the plate I5, to which the inner end ofthe bar-32 is connected.

Since-the point of engagement'between the bar and the plate is above the pivotal point of the plate, theplat'e 15 is moved outwardly and is timed to do so as the carriage is returned to the normal position The torsion spring 20, as stated previously; resists the pivoting movement of the plates l5. a. l

-Referring now particularly to the carriage operating mechanism and the mechanism for operating theplunger 1, attention is directed to Figures. l; 2 and 5. -In' Figures 1 and 2 is shown a bearingjsupport 38 supporting a bear-' ing 39 in' which is journaled a shaft 40. A

gear 4| i scarried'upon the end of the shaft 411i I A l the like 43 keyedto a shaft 44. The shaft 44 .It will be understood that the objects and is a stubshaft and although notshown in the figures, it is Journaled in bearings mounted upon the support 38 and upon the upper edge of the lowerside plate 2, which has been cut away in Figure 1 for the sake of clarity. The shaft '44 also carries a lobe cam 45 against whose periphery a projected portion 46 of the carriage 5 abuts.- about one-fourth of its periphery which allows for momentary hesitation of the carriage at each extreme limit of its travel for the purpose of insuring ample time for=-theadjustment of the plunger to the nut preparatory to the cracking operation and to-permit the followerblock 2 5 to inject a nutat the oppositeposition of thecarriage. A wheel or gear 41 is carried by the outer end of the shaft 44, to accommodate a drive-belt, chain or the like.

Mounted for sliding movement in one'end or the housing is a yoke 48, having guide arms 49 slidingly extended through openings in one of the end castings I. A cam 50 carried by the shaft 40 is in continuous engagement with a vertical cross member 5| aflixed to and forming a part o'fithe yoke 48. A pair of springs 52 normally hold the yoke in retracted position and the cross "member 5| in engagement with the cam 50. j I

The movingplunger-lhas'aflixed to its free The camf45 performs actual work on tive movement, an independently 'advanceable pressure 'plungenarranged to yieldingly'enter the ends of said vchamber 'to engage-a nut therein: during movement of. the latter in one direction, meanssforzlocking said plunger for positive" movement against said nut and means for ;applying pressure "against said plunger to crack the shell of said. nut. v a

-2. 'A' nut cracking machineyinoluding a recip rocating carriage, nut. receivingimeans mounted in said carriage and comprising a pair of plates hinged -for 'relative displacement and having advancing said plunger positivelyto break the shell of said nut and means to di'splace'the companion plate to release said nut.

' 3. A- nut cracking machine including a carriage, a pair of plates pivotally mounted in said carriageio'r relative movement and having their lower ends shaped to-jointly define a cracking chamber for receiving a nut preparatory to cracking the shell thereof means to raise one of said plates to receive a nut, a stationary mandrel anda yielding pressure plunger whose" ends are'in'alinement to interpose'said nut, means for freely advancing 'said; plunger, means for locking said plunger, means for positively moving said plunger to break the shell of said nut, and means to raise the companion plate to release said nut. i

4. A nut cracking machine including a carriage and a pair of plates pivoted for independent outward movement toward the sides of said carriage and having means jointly in their lower extremitiesvto retain a nut when in closed relationship,- a fixed mandrel and a normally yielding plunger movable into alinement with V the end of .said'mandrel tointerpose said nut, means for moving one of said plates to receive said nut for subjection to the action of said plunger in alining said nut preparatory to cracking, meansgfor engaging and positively advancing said plunger against said nut to crack the shell thereof and means for moving the companion plate to release said nut.

5.{A machine for cracking and shelling nuts including a carriage, anut receiving chamber comprising-plates pivoted at their upper extremities whereby their lower extremities will be capable oi outwardmovement,-means to raise one of said plates to receive a nut therebetween when said carriageis'moved in one direction, a-normally yielding plunger mounted in said carriage and advanceable on said nut, a mandrel against which saidnut is urged by said plunger for holding the same for subjection to the action of said plunger, means for locking said plunger, means for further advancing said plunger to crack the shell of said nut and means to raise the companionplate of said chamber to release said nut when said carriage is returned to normal position.

OLIVER H. FRANKLIN. 

